Press conference scheduled in support of Tanya McDowell

Staff reports

Published 11:35 am, Monday, April 25, 2011

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The case of a homeless woman arrested for illegally sending her son to school in Norwalk has sparked a press conference Wednesday morning at the Norwalk courthouse just before Tanya McDowell is arraigned on larceny charges.

Gwen Samuel, founder of the Meriden-based educational lobbying group Connecticut Parents Union, announced she will hold a press conference just outside the front entrance of state Superior Court in Norwalk from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday in support of McDowell. This will be McDowell's first appearance at court to face the charges brought against her nearly two weeks ago.

Samuel said another woman from Ohio, Kelley Williams-Bolar, who was arrested for sending her children out of district to a better school, will be there to speak on McDowell's behalf.

Samuel, a Meriden school mother who took up McDowell's cause after reading her story in The Advocate, said she wants to see state charges of first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny dropped against McDowell.

In the release that was sent to dozens of media outlets and state legislators like Norwalk Rep. Larry Cafero and media pundits like Bill O'Reilly, Samuel said it is time to end laws that penalize and lead to the arrest of parents for trying to get a better education for their children.

Judicial Branch spokesperson Rhonda Stearley-Hebert said court officials should have no issue with the press conference as long as public safety is not compromised in front of the courthouse. Stearly-Hebert declined comment on the case.

McDowell's public defender Elizabeth Reid did not immediately return a call for comment on the press conference.